Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott was seen shopping at an LCBO store while reportedly waiting for her coronavirus test results, but at a press conference Thursday, she said she was following the medical advice that she was given.
In a photo sent to CP24, Elliott is seen wearing a mask while shopping in the wine section of an LCBO.
According to CP24, Elliott was at a Toronto store near Spadina Avenue and Dupont Street on Wednesday shortly after Ontario education minister Stephen Lecce released a statement that his coronavirus test came back negative.
Global News has not independently verified the image or the day and time the photo was taken.
Elliott and Ontario Premier Doug Ford were tested for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday after Lecce was tested on Tuesday.
Lecce was tested for the coronavirus after he discovered that he came in contact with another positive COVID-19 case.
Lecce’s test results came back negative, as did Elliott’s and Ford’s.
“I decided to go for testing yesterday because minister Lecce was being tested, and I had been at the press conference with him the the day earlier,” Elliott said Thursday.
“Minister Lecce’s test results came back negative before I went for testing, and so while there was no real need for me to go to be tested, I had made a public commitment to do so, and so that’s where I went.”
While Elliott was at an assessment centre to get tested, she said she was advised that she didn’t need to self-isolate since she hadn’t been in direct contact with anyone who had COVID-19.
“That was the medical advice that I was given, and that was what I did,” Elliott said.
On Wednesday, the Ontario government said Elliott and Ford wouldn’t be present at the daily coronavirus press conference at Queen’s Park “out of an abundance of caution.”
Both returned to the daily press conference on Thursday afternoon.
— With files from Global News’ Jessica Patton and the Canadian Press